Labeling and Exporting the Recording
Last Updated: 03/21/2025
Once the recording sounds as good as desired, the last step is to export it, which means converting it to a more standard and portable format such as MP3 or FLAC. Splitting the album into individual songs is usually desirable when exporting an album. Adding information (metadata) to the song files identifying the artist's name, album title, and song name may also be desirable since virtually all music player applications use this information to identify the song for the user.
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Audacity implements a mechanism to simplify the export process. Labels are used to name and mark the beginning and end of songs, and a metadata editor is used to enter artist and album title information.
Managing Labels
Labels are markers inserted at and mark a specific time or, optionally, a time range. There are two ways to add Labels.
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One method is to add a Label while recording, playing, or pausing by using the Ctrl-M keyboard shortcut or the menus, shown by the yellow highlights in Figure 1. Ctrl-M places the Label at the current playback position.
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The second method is to add the Label when editing the recording using the Ctrl-B keyboard shortcut or the menus, as shown in Figure 1. Ctrl-B places the Label at the current cursor position.
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There are two types of labels: a Point Label, which denotes a specific time, and a Range Label, which defines a time range. Typing a Ctrl-B or Ctrl-M always inserts a Point Label. By clicking and dragging the Label's left or right chevron, a Point Label becomes a Range Label. Figure 2 shows examples of both. A newly inserted Label is inserted with an empty text box (see left and middle labels in Figure 2). A song's name should be typed into the empty Label as shown on the very right Point Label in Figure 2.
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Figure 1. Menu Inserting Labels, and Menu for Bringing Up the Metadata Editor
Figure 2. Two Label Types: Point Labels (right), Range Label (left)
When exporting the audio, what is the difference between a Point Label and a Range Label? For Point Labels, Audacity splits the recording on Point Labels. The first Label is the start of the split audio file, and the next Label marks the end of that audio file and the beginning of the next audio file. For Range Labels, the start and end of the Range Label mark the beginning and end of the exported audio. Any audio NOT within a Range label is not exported.
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When placing Labels, it is typically easier to insert them initially with the waveform zoomed out. However, the exact time position of the labels is important to ensure they are placed very close to the beginning of a song. Thus, the usual process is to zoom in and play the recording to determine exactly where a song starts and place the Label slightly before that point.
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​When using Range Labels, it is important to ensure that the starting point is correctly placed and that the ending point is after the music has completely faded out. Again, to do so usually requires zooming in and playing the beginning or ending to know precisely where in the waveform to place the Label.​
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To delete a label that is no longer needed, select the label's text box, right-click, and select delete from the dropdown menu. If the text box is empty, select it and type the Delete key.
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Figure 3 shows an example of a labeled album. The Audacity manual provides more information on Labels.
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Figure 3. Full Album Recording Labeled with Song Names
Figure 4. Metadata Editor
The next step is to add the album information using the Metadata Editor. The menu access is shown in Figure 1 above, and Figure 4 shows the Metadata editor dialog box. Data are entered into this form by clicking a field and typing it in. This information will be inserted into every exported song.
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Another method of entering metadata into the song files is to do so after exporting the songs by using a separate metadata editor application. For example, when exporting MP3 files, an application like Mp3Tag can be used. Tools like Mp3Tag are very flexible and can be easier to use when entering common information for a group of songs.​
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Exporting Songs
Figure 4. Export Dialog Box Detailed Settings for MP3 Export
The two most popular export formats are MP3 and FLAC. FLAC, in theory, provides higher-quality audio. Still, since the source material is a phonograph record, FLAC's increased resolution/fidelity is/will be inaudible compared to a high-bit-rate MP3 encoding. Usually, I choose MP3 to match the rest of my collection. Therefore, the example shown in Figure 4 is for an MP3 export.
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In Figure 4, the Export menu settings are highlighted in yellow, and the three copies of the dialog box highlight the different dropdown menus.
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Folder: The export folder field in the left dialog box should (obviously) be filled out with the desired location for the exported files.
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Format: The export format is also set in the left dialog box. In this example, it is set to MP3.
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Export Range: Setting the Export Range to Multiple Files is essential. This setting causes Audacity to split the recording into individual songs based on the label locations. In Figure 4, the dropdown menus in the three dialog boxes partially obscure this setting.
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Sample Rate: The middle dialog box shows the Sample Rate dropdown, which should be set to ≥41000Hz or 48000Hz. (Note: If this example were FLAC, higher rate options would be available, but given the source material, it is pointless to go above 48kHz.
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Quality: The right dialog box shows the Quality setting, which is recommended to be set to ≥230kbps
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Bit Rate Mode: The default setting for this item is acceptable.
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Split files based on: This setting should be set to Labels, which causes the output files to be split based on label positions.
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Filename Format: This can be set to any of the choices, but I prefer the first selection since the track number is embedded into the file's metadata.
Finally, click on the Export button. Audacity creates the desired output files. It can be useful to keep either the Audacity project file or a 32-bit float format WAV file as a backup in case you want to make more refinements later.
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As stated, the audio quality can easily sound better than the original record. Still, if the record is not in great shape, the result will be noticeably worse than a CD. The amount of time and effort required can be significant, so whether the results are worth it is debatable, especially if a digital recording is available.
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